The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Local soccer teams open CCS playoffs

By Mike Barnhart

Four local high schools have been selected for the Central Coast Section Soccer championships coming up Feb. 12-23ÑCupertino, Monta Vista and The King's Academy in the 38-team, three-division girls competition, and Fremont in the 33-team, two-division boys field.

Of the four, only Monta Vista earned a first-round bye. The Matadors (10-4-5) were seeded No. 3 in Division I after placing second to Los Altos in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division.

The Matadors' first playoff date is set for Feb. 16, a quarterfinal game against either No. 11 San Benito (11-5-3) or No. 6 Woodside (16-4-2).

If Monta Vista wins, it will reach the Division I semifinals for the third straight year. The opponent will either be No. 2 St. Francis (16-4-4), No. 7 Watsonville (15-3-4) or No. 10 Leland (12-7-2). The six teams in the other half of the Division I bracket include top seed Leigh (15-4), No. 4 Evergreen Valley (11-7-2) and No. 5 Los Gatos (11-8-2).

Although the quarterfinal sites had not been determined at press time, the semifinals are set for Feb. 21 at Valley Christian in San Jose, and the finals there two days later.

Last season Monta Vista advanced to the championship game, before bowing in overtime to Los Altos. That cannot happen this year, because the Eagles (15-4-1) are the third seed in the Division II bracket.

The two teams did play twice last week, though. After a 1-0 home win, Los Altos captured the De Anza championship when the teams battled to a 0-0 tie on Feb. 8 at the Monta Vista field.

"It's disappointing that we couldn't get a goal," Matadors coach Alan Kute told his team after the division-deciding match, "but you should now know that you can play with anybody in CCS."

Senior goalkeeper Kendra Roseberry, who was in net during the 2007 title game, agreed.

"Because we lost eight seniors from last year, the coaches didn't know we'd be fighting for a championship," Roseberry said, "but we've worked very hard to get this far. We're hungry for another shot and won't back down from anybody."

The King's Academy (10-4-5), in the Division III tourney for the sixth year in a row, qualified by winning the Private Schools Athletic League championship with a 7-0-2 record. The Knights, seeded No. 6, will host No. 11 Mercy of Burlingame, Feb. 13, 2:30 p.m. The winner will move on to a quarter-final game against No. 3 Menlo (10-7-4).

This season the Knights have received balanced scoring from Shelby Andrion, Elyse Williams, Samantha Ting, Tami Hays, Melisa Chin and Amy Vergara and solid goaltending from Hannah Hays.

Cupertino's girls secured their first playoff spot since 2002 by winning the SCVAL El Camino title last week. Led by senior goalkeeper Erin Hammond, the Pioneers beat Fremont 7-0 and tied Lynbrook 0-0 on Feb. 6. Their division record of 6-0-6 and 24 points edged out Wilcox (23) and Saratoga (22).

The Pioneers, seeded No. 10 in Division II, took an overall record of 10-3-7 into a first-round match, Feb. 12 at Santa Clara, against No. 7 Palo Alto (13-5-2), the fourth-place team in the De Anza Division. The Cupertino-Palo Alto winner will advance to the quarterfinals, Feb. 16, against Archbishop Mitty (15-2-6), the No. 2 seed.

Fremont's boys also earned their first CCS opportunity since 2002 by winning the El Camino title. Seeded No. 13 in Division I, the Firebirds (10-5-3) will travel to Salinas for a first-round game against No. 4 Alisal (14-1-5), Feb. 13, 6 p.m.

"This trip to CCS is something the guys have been dreaming about since I took over the program at Fremont three years ago," said Fremont coach Jose Garcia. "With the top 32 schools going to CCS, this will be a nice challenge and an experience to remember."